April 21, 2014
Hey family,
So it’s going well here. I
liked your email, and it sounds like it’s been a pretty mellow week back at
home. You directed that letter to "bailey" which I thought was kind
of funny. It must be crazy having two kids on a mission. Anyways, fun stuff.
So this week felt like it
went by pretty quickly. We've been working pretty hard, and the time just flies
by each day. I felt pretty happy, because this week we found 5 new families to
teach that are pretty positive, and I imagine that many of them will be
baptized in the coming weeks. Two of the families we found are neighbors of a
family that we found last week. These two families live in a poor area called
"las champas" and they make these ghetto french-fry kind of food, but
they're made out of plantains instead of potatoes. Do plantains exist in the
US? But yeah we were walking by the house and saw that they were chopping a ton
of plantains into little french-fries so we offered to help, and stayed there
for like an hour doing service. They were really grateful and made us dinner.
At the beginning of my mission I used to feel awkward when the family would
give us food and then just sit there watching us eat, but now I am kind of used
to it. It’s a big sign of respect when the families sacrifice their own food
for you, and it is really nice. But yeah, we helped them out a lot and they
seem pretty cool. The mom only has one leg. Her other leg was amputated like a
year ago because she has diabetes. But they really like us. The family said that
before, they were super anti-Mormon, but they really like us. They say that
we're really well educated and that we've got good manners. Kind of cool.
Yesterday we brought 5 people (four from this family) to church. The cool thing
too is that we're teaching two families that live next door, and one of the
families would like to be baptized. Cool!
So it’s going pretty well
here in Chinandega. On Tuesday I held a district meeting, and then we went and
took the mission money out of the ATM, Then on Wednesday I did divisions with
one of the areas in El Viejo and it turned out pretty good. We ordered pizza in
the evening and it was good. On Thursday we just worked hard, on Friday I did
some baptism interviews and there were some baptisms on Saturday. And on Sunday
we brought some investigators to church. The APs were in town and worked with
us a little on Sunday so that was kind of fun. They picked us up in the Hilux
and it was weird being in a nice truck. It had air-conditioning and even a
little screen in the dashboard. But yeah, it was fun. Later in the night on
Sunday some members in the ward gave us food. There is an 18-year-old guy in
our ward who just got his mission call and leaves in about a month. We've been
working with him a lot and his family gave us dinner on Sunday. His name is M
and he was called to the Guatemala Quetzaltenango mission. But yeah, he's
stoked and its fun to work with the members.
So it’s all going well here
in El Naranjo. My comp and I get along really well, and we've been working
hard. My comp really wants to get better at English, so I talk to him in
English a lot. He actually speaks fairly well, and understands everything when
I talk a little slower. Fun stuff! But yeah, it’s going well. I am actually
happy too with my Spanish. When I first began my mission I didn’t think that
I’d ever be able to speak well, but now everyone tells me that I speak really well
and have a good Nica accent. So yeah, it’s awesome to be here. Tomorrow I’ll
have 20 months in the mission, and the time just flies by. One of the ZL’s here
is Elder T whom I’m really good friends from the MTC. We talk a ton each night
and its fun to have some good friends here in the zone. But yeah, it’s all
going well. Today we went to the stake center, played some guitar, and then
went to Burger King. I think that I spent like 10 bucks (whoops, sorry about
that!!!! Oh and the only bad thing that happened this week was that I opened my
suitcase to take my baptism pants out and they smelled kind of bad. So then I
asked my comp to verify, and he agreed that they smelled really bad. So I
started digging around the suitcase and found a dead mouse in the bottom. I
think that the neighbors had put some rat poison around and the mouse had eaten
some and then climbed into my suitcase. But yeah, it was gross. So we threw the
mouse away and for the past few days I’ve been airing out the suitcase and last
night I bleached all of my clothes that smelled bad. Haha funny stuff. Only in
Nicaragua! But it’s all going well and I’m happy to be here. I love this place,
and I love teaching the gospel. I’m seriously going to be super devastated when
I finally have to leave this place. And I’m really happy that I now have a
super strong testimony of the gospel, and I love reading the scriptures. Well,
I hope that you're all doing well and that life is good. Stay safe and stay
"pilas puesta" in the church!
Audio,
Elder Stark
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